Yacht ensign

by Zeljko Heimer

The yacht ensign was regulated by royal order from 15 March 1966,
article 13 § 2 (my translation from the French order text given
by Léon Nyssen in Vexillacta[vxl] #3, March 1999):

''The national ensign to be hoisted by Belgian yachts is made of
three stripes placed vertically, black, yellow, and red of equal
width; the black stripe is placed at hoist. The national flag hoisted
by Belgian yachts registered in yachting associations approved by the
Minister is charged with a yellow royal crown in the upper third of
the black stripe."

L. Nyssen quotes the French text of the order, and highlights the
faulty use of laisse instead of laize for stripe, a
mistake commonly reproduced for decades! The ensign proportion is not
specified, neither are its dimensions. The proportion is usually 2:3
by analogy with the civil ensign, and
the dimensions depend on the yacht owner's evaluation.

De facto yacht ensign

by José Carlos Alegria

Mr Vivegnis, an officer of the
Bruxelles Royal Yacht Club, has told
me that, even though the law clearly says "yellow royal crown", the
general use is to fly flags with crowns in full color
(multi-colored). He is not sure if that is just because that is the
way flag manufacturers make the flags or because of any tradition.

José Carlos Alegria, 8 August 2000

Use of yacht ensign by yacht clubs

In Belgium, recreational boats seem to be using massively the
national ensign defaced with a royal crown in canton.
This privilege was initially given to only four clubs:

But extended usage of the flag seems to have been taken to allow
all clubs belonging to the F.R.B.Y. (Fédération
Royale Belge de Yachting), the Belgian Royal Yachting Federation,
to fly the special ensign.